The Burden Is Light Sample

Misliving

If you were to plot the moments that have shaped your story so far, what would it look like? Most of us would find that our lives are often outside of the plan and purpose we feel called to. We would see that we are in real danger of what William Irvine calls “misliving.” 

Abuse, greed, materialism, and other forms of misliving are easy for us to recognize in others, but we are often unable to see the ways we mislive our own stories. The things that derail us seem to come out of nowhere, or they come with such subtle deceptive­ness that we don’t think they will shape us in the long run.

Despite our involvement in church, accumulation of biblical knowledge, and sincere love for God, we can’t seem to decipher the forces that make us who we are. Rather than offering us freedom, our culture of hurry, responsibility, performance, and success distorts things in such a way that we are left wondering if this is the life God has in mind for us.

I want to help you close the gap between your current self and the self God desires for you. I want to contrast the forces that work for brokenness and disillusionment and pain with the things that bring glory and wonder and joy. I want to help you live your story as God planned. 

The call of Jesus is not just about morality or doctrine, religious performance or outreach. It’s about living well. It’s about learning to live his way in the world. Our culture seduces us to fill our lives with things that are immediate, alluring, and entertaining but rarely with things that give our lives mean­ing. 

You may be starting out in life and seeking to live it well, in midlife and wondering if you can course correct, or toward the end of your life and wondering if there is still hope. Wherever you are, I want to see your life filled with truth and goodness, beauty and gladness, depth and meaning, so that when you look back over the years, you will realize that you have indeed learned to live in the way of Jesus and have found that his burden is light. 

In what ways do the lies or temptations of the world feel like a heavy burden to you?